SYDNEY — Sprinting through the surf, veteran lifesaver Nixy Krite and her teammates jump into an inflatable rescue boat on a sunny morning on Sydney’s iconic Bondi Beach.
Sprinting through the surf, veteran lifesaver Nixy Krite and her teammates jump into an inflatable rescue boat on a sunny morning on Sydney’s iconic Bondi Beach.Krite and her team pilot the boat over the ocean before they scoop up a fellow teammate stranded at sea.
Ms Krite, head of the beach’s Inflatable Rescue Boat Racing team, has been a volunteer lifesaver for the past 12 years and devotes at least 40 hours per week to shifts during peak season. “We’re making up for those times that we just haven’t had the opportunity. So, now we’ve got equal opportunities across our organisation, it opened up doors for our women to take on those positions of leadership,” said Ms Krite, who also works as a recruitment officer for a clinical research institute.
Today, it’s a different story. According to Surf Life Saving Australia, women make up almost 50 per cent of the 190,000 volunteer lifesavers in the 314 clubs across the country.